Thursday, May 05, 2011

Rafting in Bosnia


The Huffington Post published a list of eleven reasons to visit Bosnia. Some of them I'm dubious about--a Bosnian pyramid?--but reading the list you do get a sense for what a gorgeous landscape Bosnia occupies. Three of the eleven reasons have to do with Bosnia's rivers.

It's a stretch to say that the rafting season has started, but we wanted to go down a river before we move next month. Last time we were here we rafted the Tara River--a fantastic trip. This time David found us a tour guide for the Neretva River, just an hour out of Sarajevo. We were the first trip of the season and probably their next one won't be for another month.

They weren't quite sure how to outfit children, but they made do with short style adult wetsuits for Isaac and Eleanor.


The trip was spectacular.


Our tour guides were skilled at maneuvering the river and great at gauging our responses to make sure we got the trip we wanted. They even paddled upstream when they realized we weren't kidding that we wanted to jump from the rocks into the (snowmelt--brrrr!) water.

Isaac--unlike me--was fearless jumping in.
Part of the river cuts through a deep canyon. Springs of fresh water pour from the walls of the canyon, feeding the river. (And the Huffington Post list is right--the water is safe to drink and delicious.)

On the left, you can see a spring pouring out of the canyon wall.

Another spring.

Eleanor and I liked leaning over the side of the raft and watching the rocks three and four meters down through the clear, beautiful, sweet water.


After our trip, we went back to the home of one of the guides, and his family grilled fish and chicken for us outside and served us dinner in their garden.

Bosnia is hard to get to right now--there still aren't good roads into it or easy train trips or even many affordable flights--but it is such a beautiful place that someday you will be sorry you didn't get there while it was still a quiet place.

My interview of Susan Anneveldt, a friend from Holland, is up at Mormon Women Project.`

2 comments:

Sarah said...

I am feasting on the imagery you provide of your adventures. I look forward to someday stepping out of the norm so that my children can experience a bigger, more diverse world.

Dan said...

Beautiful river trip I wish I could have gone with you. It looked like a lot of fun.